New Delhi - An ethnic armed rebel group in Burma, acting under pressure from China, has reportedly arrested and deported two key Tibetan activists hiding in northern Burma, an ethnic news group said.

Naw Din, editor of the Thailand-based Kachin News Group, said the Kachin Independent Organisation, an armed rebel group in northern Burma, arrested the two Tibetan activists in Laiza on the Sino-Burmese border on Sunday. They were being hunted by Chinese authorities in Yunnan Province.

"They were arrested on Sunday in a restaurant by officials of the KIO's immigration department and were deported on the same day," Naw Din said, citing eyewitnesses and sources close to the KIO immigration department.

Naw Din added that the Chinese government had sent the KIO profiles of the two Tibetan activists weeks ago. The activists, whose identities could not be confirmed, apparently went into hiding in northern Burma after the Chinese government tightened security in Tibetan areas of Yunnan province.

However Major Gun Maw, a KIO spokesperson, said the group was unaware of the two being Tibetan activists and arrested them as per the request of Chinese officials.

"We don't know if the two are Tibetan activists, we arrested them as per the direction given to us. We have done that before, and thought it was a usual exchange of people who are wanted," Gun Maw told Mizzima.

Gun Maw added that the two were familiar faces in the region and were known to be businessmen operating in the area.

"So, we thought it was a typical demand by the Chinese government regarding people who are wanted," Gun Maw said.
Meanwhile, Tibetan activists in India's capital New Delhi said they were not aware of the information on the arrest and deportation of fellow activists along Sino-Burmese border.

"We have not received any information on this," a Tibetan activist in New Delhi told Mizzima.

KIO, one of the several armed rebellion groups who have signed a ceasefire pact with the Burmese military junta, has its headquarters at Laiza on the Sino-Burmese border.

The Burmese military junta, which maintains a close relationship with China, last week said it supports the 'One China' policy of the Chinese government and condemns any move to link the recent unrest in Tibet with the Beijing Olympics in August.

China, which along with Russia attracted international criticism for blocking a UN Security Council resolution on Burma in January 2007, drew fresh criticism when it began cracking down on Tibetan protestors in March.

Both Burmese and Tibetan activists have begun a campaign to boycott the Beijing Olympics in August.